Young's Chip Shop Mackerel now in UK supermarkets
Young's Chip Shop Mackerel is launched this week, thanks to the support of two major UK supermarkets. Tesco and Morrison's are stocking the product across 650 stores nationwide, reports www.megafishnet.com with reference to Young's Seafood.
Young's Chip Shop Mackerel was inspired by the series of Channel 4 'Fish Fight' programmes in January. The programmes highlighted Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's 'Mackerel Mission' to encourage more people to try sustainable mackerel at fish and chip shops. The campaign continues and just six weeks after Fish Fight aired, this new product gives people a way to enjoy authentic Chip Shop style 'mackerel baps' at home.
As Britain's best loved name in fish, Young's has used mackerel many times before and has been seeking ways to increase its profile for some time. Now Young's has given mackerel even more exposure by adding it to Chip Shop, Britain's favourite battered fish brand.
Mackerel brings even more diversity to Chip Shop, which already uses a lot of alternative white fish such as Alaska pollock and basa, as well as traditional cod and haddock. As with all Young's fish, Chip Shop Mackerel is sourced according to the rigorous criteria of Fish for Life, Findus Group's programme for responsible fish procurement. Sourced in Scotland, this mackerel is also certified to the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) standard.
As the UK's leading fish brand, Young's has long supported the use of a wider variety of fish. Diversification can help to reduce the supply pressure on more popular species - as well as helping people find out just what a fantastic and flexible food fish really is. As part of its Fish for Life approach, Young's has often been first to introduce alternative fish species to the UK. It was the first brand to make a product with MSC certified hoki (in 2000) and also pioneered the first products made with responsibly farmed basa in 2007. Alternative white fish species now make up as much as 60% of all the fish used in the Young's brand.
Leendert den Hollander, chief executive of Young's Seafood Limited said: "We're delighted to be working with Tesco and Morrison's to give consumers an easy and delicious way to try different species of sustainable fish. We take our responsibilities very seriously and that's why one of the actions we take is to encourage consumers to try a wide variety of fish species. We hope consumers who've backed the Fish Fight will help make this product a success."
Background notes
As Britain's best loved name in fish and within the principles of its long term and award winning 'Fish for Life' approach to responsible fisheries, Young's has for many years supported the drive to get people to eat a wider diversity of seafood.
The fish in Chip Shop Mackerel is sourced from a longstanding Scottish supplier to Young's and is from the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certified Northeast Atlantic and North Sea mackerel fishery, specifically the western component. This mackerel is caught by the highly selective pelagic trawl method which has minimal discards since few 'non target' fish are caught. The vessels in this supplier's fleet also use modern 'jigging' technology which allows the average size of the fish in each shoal to be gauged by weight before trawling, and thus the deliberate avoidance of smaller juveniles. Pelagic trawling is a mid-water fishing method which has no impact on the sea bed.
Fish for Life was formally launched in 2006 by Young's in the UK and has now been adopted across the Findus Group. It is widely recognised as one of the leading business improvement programmes of its type and has won a number of awards, including in 2010 the 'Land, Water and Ecology' prize of the Green Business Awards and the Management category of the European Business Commitment to the Environment Awards.
Fish for Life is in essence a guarantee to consumers that all the fish (wild and farmed) supplied in the Young's and Findus retail brands has been sourced according to rigorous audit and the Findus Group's 'Ten Principles for Responsible Fish Procurement.'
Although Fish for Life already delivers responsibly sourced seafood, Findus Group believes it is important to support the Marine Stewardship Council as part of the broader goals and aspirations of Fish for Life. Also the MSC and its logo have so far achieved the best international visibility in terms of marketing sustainably sourced seafood to consumers
Although Young's is open to the possibility that new independent certification schemes may be developed, it accepts the MSC as the current international 'gold standard' for certifying the sustainability of wild fisheries. The MSC assessment process measures fisheries against three key principles:
1. The sustainability of the stock being exploited (fished).
2. Maintenance of the marine ecosystem.
3. The application of an effective fisheries management system.
Young's Seafood Limited is the UK's largest supplier of fish and seafood to retailers and consumers. The company buys 88,000 tonnes of seafood every year.